Radiant Insights announces that it has published a new study Low Iron Solar Glass Concentrated Solar Power (CSP) Market Shares, Strategy, and Forecasts, Worldwide, 2014 to 2020. The 2014 study has 565 pages, 303 tables and figures. Worldwide markets for Low Iron Glass for Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) are poised to achieve significant growth based on an expectation of rapid adoption of CSP worldwide.

Concentrated Solar Power technology from Schott solar

As soon as a market has 100 paying reference accounts, it becomes a viable market. CSP solar systems have reached that market inflection point. Growth potential of the CSP sector is strong, part of the solar growth that is poised to make solar energy represent 90% of the world’s energy production within 25 years.

Just as smart phones grew rapidly once the price points were affordable and the economies of scale large enough to drive down prices for the markets to achieve significant growth, so also solar markets will take off. CSP has a strong ability to reduce the cost of electricity produced. Compound annual growth rates are expected to be made meaningless by penetration analysis when the markets grow rapidly.

The market for low iron glass used in concentrated solar thermal power systems is growing

There are no hindrances to CSP growth except technology and the new nanotechnologies make solar processes possible. The materials are simple, silica, silica, and more silica. With solar energy available to support the CSP low iron glass and the CSP module manufacturing processes, the markets will grow at compound rates.
Costs of electricity from CSP plants at US $ 0.15-0.24/kWh will decline to $.03 and lower by 2017 as the effect of the 35 year life span of the plant is factored into cost analysis. Once the plant is built very little labor is necessary, there are no ongoing fuel costs. This is a compelling economic story.

By 2020, expectations are that CSP capital costs will decline even further by between 30% and 50%. New technology will make plant operations even more efficient by that time. According to Susan Eustis, the lead author of the team that created the study, “Concentrating Solar Power (CSP) depends on low iron glass because the low iron.